9 Easy Ways To Create Conflict In Your Story

Stories need conflict otherwise your readers will have nothing to cheer for, nothing to be worried about, and no mystery to figure out. Conflict drives a story and keeps the plot moving forward. And most importantly, the conflict provides the catalyst for the growth of your characters.

Here are few sure fire tips you can start using today to get your character into hot water and keep your readers invested.

1. Let every stroke of good luck change the plot so that your character's path to their goal is now littered with new and potentially worse obstacles.

2. Get emotional! Show your characters' motivation in each scene. Pack it with resistance. Everyone can't be going for the same goal.

3. Your character should have a major flaw that prevents them from reaching their goal.

4. Give your protagonist two motives. They must sacrifice one goal in order to achieve the other.

5. Let the action be created by the character's decisions and not because of coincidence. This is especially effective if they make the wrong decision for the right reason.

6. When faced with choices, there should be positive and negative consequences. But your character must use motivation that makes sense for the situation.

7. Make sure that any solution they come up with to solve a problem actually makes things worse until they get it right.

8. Make one character passionately opinionated, always ready for an argument.

9. Take away your main character's greatest source of support at the most critical time.

I hope this was helpful. Happy writing!

Ka-Boom! How To Write A Nail Biting Climax

Elliott and ET race to his spaceship
photo credit, smh.com.au 

In most cases it's the climax and resulting conclusion that stay with the reader long after the book is shelved, and therefore has the greatest impact. For a writer, the goal is to provide an ending that makes sense of everything but also generates a deeper understanding.

Every successful novel has three elements; a beginning that hooks the reader (the unreachable goal for the protagonist), a middle that sets up the crisis (what prevents our hero from obtaining his goal), and the climax (what he's forced to do to reach the goal) which leads to a resolution.

Harry discovers Quirrell not Snape is the two faced villain
photo credit, agatavision.com

Simply put, the climax is the moment of crisis when the protagonist has no way out and has to make a decision or act in such a way to reach the story goal. Up to this point, the reader has observed the hero struggle to reach the story goal and is familiar with his particular behavior or pattern of problem solving. It's this personality trait that either helps or hinders him.

Deckard barely hangs on in Blade Runner
photo credit, atthelighthouse.blogspot.com

The moment the stakes are highest our hero is faced with the toughest situation. In order to solve the story goal he must choose to stick with the same behavior or switch to an alternative. However, each choice comes with the risk of failure or loss of whatever he values most.

Sheriff Brody running out of boat in JAWS
photo credit, reflectionsontvandfilm.blogspot.com

TENSION

Think 'danger and opportunity'. Our hero has to make a decision to save the story goal, but we don't know if it's the right one until the very end. All we know is that he's doomed if he does nothing, but at the same time there's an unseen/unexpected potential for growth or new beginning.

EXPLANATIONS

Depending on how you want your story to end, helps determine what questions or issues need clarifying. Once you've established what should be answered, imagine an extensive, irreversible event that will force those issues to be addressed.

YOGURT

Like bacteria that continue to live and grow, your protagonist should have evolved from who he was at the awesome beginning that hooked us in the first place. It's imperative to show how our hero's behavior is challenged by pursuing the story goal. Ultimately, it's the decision the hero makes in the end that leads to personal growth and showcases the moral or theme of the story.

A reader will invest hours of time into your novel, make sure their last impression is the greatest one.

Next week, I'll be blogging how to nail your ending.

Cheers!

The Ten Commandments For Writers

Have you lost sight of your plot? Are your characters being oppositional? Is the blank page mocking you?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, it's time to regroup and rejuvenate those writerly cells of yours. I know writerly isn't a word, but it's cute.




Thanks, Charlton. I'll take it from here.
photo credit sanfranciscosentinel.com

 1. Thou shall not use the passive voice. Think action. Don't give the object all the attention, this story is about your characters, damn it!

2. Thou shall not complain about agents/editors on twitter or facebook. Seriously, save the spitting for the coffee shop with your friends. All your public whining makes you sound—well whinny.

3. Thou shall not bore the reader to death with unnecessary description. Why spend three paragraphs describing how your character got from the bedroom to the kitchen? Just write, She went to down the hall to the kitchen.  

4. Thou shall not make characters stare into a mirror and narrate what they look like. The use of dialogue and mannerisms conveys more about the character than their eye color.

5. Thou shall not use stereotypes to create one dimensional characters. "The bad guy" could be any of us on a certain day. Like in real life, everyone sees themselves as the star of their own story. Be aware of this motivation for all of your chacaters.

6. Thou shall not make a love triangle purely to move the plot forward. It's more interesting when the reader has no idea who the author wants to hook up.

7. Thou shall not have everything work out for your MC. Stop being so nice. I know you love them, but it's super boring to read about a character who always has a best friend to help her out. Make her suffer! Kick her while she's down, and then make her clean up the mess.

8. Thou shall not be afraid to use the "C" word. Yup, that's right. CONFLICT. See above.

9. Thou shall not GIVE UP. Overnight success is the result of years of hard work. Writing as a serious business, you have to grow a thick skin and learn to be patient, otherwise you'll be disappointed.

10. Go back and read number nine again, it's worth repeating.

 Any other wise sayings to add?

Cheers!